Second Chance
by etherealdiscord
Summary: Ten years after the trio.. plus one.. broke up, they are reunited in a night that changes everything.
1. The Distance

**Title:** Second Chance

**Author:** Payton Tyler

**Email:** darkserene at glitterbomb dot com

**Pairing:** Oh come on people. I hope you aren't that dense.

**Rating:** PG -13

**Season:** Future

**Spoilers: **Uh. Everything, to be safe.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own JoA, or the actors. Don't sue me. I also don't own the songs that each chapter is named after.

**Summary: **I detest summarys. Ten years after the trio.. plus one.. broke up, they are reunited in a night that changes everything.

**Dedication: **To Magical Turkey for being an awsome friend and helping me through my insane ideas. Even if she does keep using my favorite foods as Joan's pregnancy food in TWWA.

**Author's Notes:** The result of watching waay too much TV, music and weird dreams. Before you shoot me, there IS a method to the madness. Isn't there always? Chapter is named after the song "The Distance" by Evan and Jaron. And per MT's request, go read our new joint fic "Under My Skin". Read! Go!

"Mom!" ten year old Anna Girardi yelled. "Why do I have to go to Grandma and Grandpa's tonight?"

"Because," her mother called back, "I've got my reunion tonight."

"So? Can't I stay with dad?" Anna asked, running up the stairs to her mothers room.

"No. It's your father's reunion too Anna."

"Then can I stay with Uncle Kevin?" Anna asked.

"No. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Rebecca are away for the weekend."

"Come on mom! Do I really have to stay with Grandma and Grandpa? There's nothing to do at their house! I'm ten! Can't I stay home alone?"

"No. You're not old enough to stay home alone. Ask me again in two years. Now get ready, I promised I'd help set up before tonight." Anna sighed.

"Fine," she said, storming off to her bedroom to pack her bags.

----

"I do not want to go tonight," 29 year old Grace Polk muttered, slamming her laptop shut and spinning around in her desk chair to grab a file folder of papers.

"Then don't go," a voice called from the doorway. She looked up to see her friend of 26 years, Adam Rove, leaning against the door frame.

"When did you get here?" Grace asked, spinning back around in her chair.

"Few minutes ago. Scott let me in. But if you're not going to go tonight, then I should go. It's a long drive to Arcadia," Adam said. Grace shook her head.

"I said I didn't want to go, I never said I wasn't going. I haven't seen Girardi since Anna was five, I'm long overdue for a visit," Grace told him, dropping the folder on her laptop. Adam smiled.

"Great. Jane and Anna are going to love to see you again," Adam told her.

"I'm going to go get packed. Can you tell Scott to call a hotel in Arcadia and get us a room?" Grace asked. Adam's smile faded.

"Scott's coming?" Grace nodded.

"He's been my boyfriend for two years Rove. I know you don't like him, but I do. He's coming." Adam nodded.

"Alright," he said, leaving Grace's room.

----

"Luke!" Joan shouted, entering her brothers house.

"What?" a voice called back from the kitchen.

"Are you coming tonight?" Joan asked him.

"I don't know," Luke told her, drying his hands on a dish towel. Joan sighed.

"Luke, you've hardly left the house in the past five years. It's time to move on." He narrowed his eyes at his older sister.

"Move on? Joan, it's not just something you move on from."

"I know, that's not what I meant. I just meant she'd want you to be happy and get out of the house. It's just one night. Come with me back to the highschool to set up, stay through the night. It will be fun. Sit at a table with a fun name tag, brag to everyone about how you're some super scientist while half of the school is flipping burgers at McDonalds. Please? Just to keep me company?" Joan asked.

"Isn't Adam going?" he asked.

"I think so. I don't know. His cell phone was off when I tried to call him this morning, and when I stopped by his studio, Tim said he had to go to Baltimore to pick something up. Say he doesn't come. Then I'll be stuck in a room full of people I don't know or hate. Please?" Luke rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said. Joan grinned.

"Great! I'm heading over there now to help set up, so hop in the car and I'll give you a ride," she said, practically shoving her brother out of his house.


	2. Roads

**AN: Thanks for the reviews dudes. Go read "Under My Skin" and review. Please. For my sanity. And Hannah, don't go using the M word! I may have to attack you with a butter knife too. Chapter is named after "Roads" by Portishead.**

**Chapter Two**

"So, let me get this straight," Grace said as Adam drove herself and Scott towards Arcadia. "You and Girardi have a daughter, you're best friends, you love each other, and yet, you're not together?"

"Well, I proposed when I found out she was pregnant, but she dumped me. We kept talking because of Anna, but then we decided it would be stupid to just hate each other."

"Makes sence I guess," Grace said. Adam nodded.

"That's what we thought," Adam told her.

----

"Hello? Anyone in here?" Joan called down the halls of Arcadia High School. She turned and looked at Luke. "This place looks so werid. Why do they always fix up schools after we leave?"

"Because they get a better budget once we're gone? Is anyone even here?" Luke asked. As if on cue a voice from down the hall called out;

"Joan? Joan Girardi?" Joan looked around and saw Brian Beaumont heading towards her.

"Oh God," Joan muttered.

"Great, you're here! And you brough your brother. We're setting up in the gym. We need help pulling tables in from the luch room and hanging up decorations," he told them, then continued on his way down the hall. Joan and Luke looked at each other.

"You get the tables, I'll get the decorations," Joan told him. He nodded and headed off towards the lunch room while Joan made her way to the gym.

----

"Welcome to Arcadia," Grace said, reading the road sign as Adam drove past it.

"So this is where you grew up?" Scott asked from the back seat.

"Yeah," she and Adam responded.

"Is it like a small town?" Scott asked them.

"Typical question from a city guy," Grace said. "It's not as big as Baltimore, but it's not a little hamlet where you can walk to everything and there's only one coffee shop." Adam looked at her.

"You can walk to everything. And Mocha Mike's is the only coffee shop," he pointed out, earning a glare from Grace.

"Shut it Rove."

"I've got to stop by the studio to lock up. Do you want me to drop you guys off at the hotel or the school?"

"Hotel. We've got to check in," Scott told Adam.

"Alright," Adam responded, driving towards the hotel.


	3. In This Life

**AN: So.. I'm putting off my algebra homework. Anyone want a gmail account? Oh. Chapter's named after "In This Life" by Chantal Kreviazuk.**

**Chapter Three**

"Do we really have to go to this thing?" Scott asked Grace as the two walked up to their hotel room.

"Yeah," Grace told him.

"But I thought you hated highschool," he protested.

"Some of it. That doesn't mean I don't want to see my friends again. If you have a problem with that, then don't go."

"I was just asking. I mean, it's a high school reunion Grace. Those things never go right."

"Oh like you know. You've never been to one you big wimp. You've just watched them on TV."

"That doesn't make me a wimp. I had 30 friends in high school. I wouldn't have anyone to talk to if I actually went to one," he whined. Grace stopped walking and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I had three. That's reason enough for me to go. All you do is go sit in a badly lit gym for a few hours and talk to people," she told him, unlocking the hotel room door. "Get changed, it starts in an hour."

----

"Alright, looks like we're done here. Good work people," Brian told the group of past students that had helped set up. "I'll see you all back here tonight."

"You're still coming tonight, aren't you?" Joan asked her brother as she grabbed her bag.

"Do I have a choice?" Joan shook her head.

"No. You need to get your life back. You can't waste away in that house of yours. You have to get out and do something, and this stupid reunion is the perfect place to start," she responded.

"I do get out," Luke protested. Joan raised an eyebrow.

"Before today, when was the last time you left the house? Buying food and going to the lab don't count." He gave his sister a blank look.

"Uh.." he started. Joan nodded.

"I thought so," she said, smirking at him as they left the building. "I wonder if Adam's back yet," she said to herself, pulling her cell phone out. Luke shook his head.

"Why haven't you two gotten married yet?" he asked.

"Because we haven't dated since freshman year of college. The only reason that he proposed to me is because I was pregnant. We're better off just being friends."

"Right, of course," Luke said, not believing a word.

----

"Hey Tim," Adam called to his co-worker, entering the large art studio he had been working at for the past year.

"Adam, man, the wife keeps calling," Tim told him as he worked to hang a painting level on the wall.

"Jane isn't my wife Tim," Adam told him. Tim nodded.

"I know man. Not legally. Yet. She kept asking about a union?" Tim said, grabbing a cup of coffee off a nearby table.

"The reunion?" Adam supplied.

"That's it!" Tim exclaimed, pointing at Adam with his coffee cup and grinning. "She wanted to know if you were going to the union and what you had to pick up in Baltimore. I told her you'd call her back when you got in. She told me she was calling from her cell phone." Adam nodded slightly, wondering how many cups of coffee Tim had downed while he had been gone, and pulled out his phone, walking towards the back of the studio.

**AN: And for my next trick, the reunion!**


	4. Chapter Four

**Authors Note: Thanks to American Idiot for her amazing ability to come up with last names on demand and for just being here. You rock and I love you. DNQ of course, but either way. Also thanks to Adam for spell checking this for me. You also rock dude.**

**Chapter Four**

_"Everything's alright in the end. If it's not alright, then it's not the end."_

She could have used an alcoholic beverage. Or a shot gun. Either would work. Arcadia High School looked the same as it had eleven years ago. It was like taking a trip to the Twilight Zone.

"Okay, this is just weird," Grace said under her breath, glancing around the hallways.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Scott asked her.

"Home is sounding like a good place," she responded quietly. "The lunch room," she said louder, taking off in the direction of the lunch rooms, dragging Scott behind her.

----

"Hey Luke, I got you a trendy name tag," Joan said, returning to the table the two were sitting at and handing him a stick on name tag reading 'Hello, my name is Luke Girardi.' Luke took it from her and shook his head, applying the name tag.

"You look like you're having fun," Joan noted, taking a seat across from him.

"Loads," he muttered. Joan sighed.

"Come on. A little fun won't kill you," Joan said, instantly regretting it. Luke stared at her and got up.

"Really? Yeah, fun never killed anyone," he said, getting up and leaving.

"Jane?" Joan turned around, her face lighting up.

"Adam! Hey!" she said, getting up and hugging him.

"Hey," Adam said, hugging back. "What was that about?"

"Oh, I'm just an idiot," Joan told him, letting him go. "Where were you today?"

"I had to go to Baltimore. Tim told me you called, but your cell phone was off when I tried to call you back." Joan nodded.

"Yeah, I was out with Luke trying to get him to come tonight. What did you have to get in Baltimore?" Adam smiled.

"Grace," he said.

"Seriously? You convinced her to come? That's awesome! Is she here yet?"

"She is," Grace said, appearing behind the two.

"Grace!" Joan exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"Girardi!" Grace said, trying to sound annoyed, but failing. She was thrilled to see Joan again, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Sorry. How've you been? What's new? I haven't seen you in forever! Who's that?" Joan asked, pointing to Scott.

"Breathe Girardi. This is Scott Walden. My boyfriend," Grace said. Joan's jaw practically hit the ground.

"Boyfriend? How long? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Two years," Grace said.

"Two years?! Why didn't you tell me? Adam, did you know?" Joan asked. Adam nodded.

"So I was the only one who didn't?!" Scott looked from Grace to Joan.

"Maybe I should go.." he said, leaving. Grace glared at Joan.

"My personal life is my business," she snapped, walking out of the lunch room.

----

Walking out to the front steps of the school, Grace pulled the old leather jacket she'd had since high school tighter around her. It was September, wasn't it still supposed to be warm? She leaned back against the wall of the school and noticed a familiar looking figure sitting on the steps.

"Geek?" Grace asked, leaning down to get a better look at the shadowy figure sitting on the front steps of the school. She hadn't seen him in five years, but she was almost certain that it was. He turned his head around to look at her.

"Grace?" he asked.

"Hey," she said, sitting down on the steps next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Joan forced me into coming. I'm not really in the mood for partying. What about you? You never struck me as the reunion type." Grace shrugged.

"I'm not. Rove talked me into it." He nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" he asked.

"Please. You're easier to read than a picture book dude." He smiled despite himself. Even after ten years she still knew him too well.

"It's nothing," he told her.

"Alright," she responded as the two fell into a comfortable silence.


End file.
